bedbugs

Lawyer for Ivy Eldridge says family was covered in bites

(Newser) -
A not-so-happy happening at the Happiest Place on Earth: A woman is suing over bedbugs at the Disneyland Hotel. Ivy Eldridge, whose lawsuit names the Walt Disney Co., Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, and the hotel itself, says she was bitten by bedbugs while staying at the California hotel with...
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(Newser) -
A woman who's modeled for Valentino, Versace, and Victoria's Secret is suing a Hilton hotel in California, claiming she was "massacred" by bedbugs. Brazilian model Sabrina Jales St. Pierre says she had a severe reaction to bedbug bites that required medical attention and affected her ability to...
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Scratching left toddler son permanently marked

(Newser) -
The company that owns an apartment complex where a bedbug infestation left a 3-year-old boy scarred has been ordered to pay his family almost $1.6 million. Mother Lilliana Martinez says that in 2012, two years after the family moved into the complex in Inglewood, Calif., they found son Jorge...
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Woman trying to kill the critters accidentally sets her building on fire

(Newser) -
You might want to do anything to get rid of bedbugs, but adding fire to the mix didn't end well for one Cincinnati woman trying to rid her apartment of the tiny creeps. As the AP reports, she accidentally started a house fire while trying to kill bedbugs with...
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British Airways says it is investigating

(Newser) -
British Airways has apologized to a family who say they had little option but to let the bedbugs bite on a flight from Vancouver to London earlier this month. Heather Szilagyi—a former hotel worker who knows a bedbug when she sees one—says she discreetly alerted a flight attendant...
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Put your suitcase up on a metal rack and seal your soiled laundry

(Newser) -
Nobody wants to bring home bedbugs after being on the road, and now scientists have some practical advice on how to avoid that fate. A new study in Scientific Reports shows that the little critters are drawn to the scent of dirty laundry, and the lead author translates that into...
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The man in Maine was apparently upset he didn't qualify for city assistance

(Newser) -
In 40 years of government work, a city manager in Maine says he's "never had anything as yucky as this." The Kennebec Journal reports a "disgruntled" man entered Augusta city hall Friday and promptly shut it down by releasing dozens of bedbugs. “He whipped out...
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Woman, 96, died covered in sores

(Newser) -
A 96-year-old woman's death wouldn't typically garner headlines, but a case out of Hanover, Pa., is an exception. Mary Stoner died last February due to complications from sepsis that arose after a bed bug infestation, and her caretaker, Deborah Butler, has now been charged in Stoner's death,...
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Tropical bedbug has potential to wreak more havoc than regular variety

(Newser) -
The last time a tropical bedbug was confirmed in Florida, the average price of a new home was less than $10,000 , and Perry Como topped the charts. But USA Today reports this jacked-up cousin of the regular bedbug has now apparently made a reappearance in the Sunshine State, after...
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Like other insects, bedbugs appear to gravitate toward red and black

(Newser) -
If you want to keep the bedbugs from biting, one possible deterrent may come in the form of home decorating—because bedbugs, as researchers at the University of Florida have found, seem to have strong color preferences. Reporting in the Journal of Medical Entomology , they note that the bloodsucking pests...
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Study shows they have developed 'dramatic' resistance

(Newser) -
Here's some bad news for anyone who lives by the credo the only good bedbug is a dead bedbug: The nocturnal bloodsuckers that infest homes, hotel rooms, and even movie theaters are getting harder to kill. In a study in the Journal of Medical Entomology , researchers say that bedbugs...
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Detroit guy recovering from burns

(Newser) -
Maybe the old slumber send-off of "sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite" is due for an addendum … namely "and don't set yourself and your apartment building on fire ." Case in point: A Detroit man was recovering from burns Friday after dousing himself and...
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Soak them with alcohol, celebrate with a cigarette

(Newser) -
Someone told Scott Kemery that if you saturate bedbugs with alcohol, they'll die. Nobody, apparently, told Scott Kemery that you shouldn't light a cigarette after soaking the inside of your bedbug-infested car with alcohol, while still sitting in the car. Result: the 44-year-old Long Island man suffered first-...
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Researchers track down chemicals to catch pests

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If, someday, bedbugs are no longer a cause for concern, remember to thank Regine Gries. She's a biologist in British Columbia who was willing to tolerate 180,000 bites as a host for the creatures so that her team could study them. "I calmed myself down thinking when...
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So, yeah, even the mattress you thought was brand-new is apparently not safe

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If this isn't enough to scare you off from ever purchasing another mattress, we're not sure what would do the trick. A Phoenix mother bought two mattresses from Mattresses 101 last November; they appeared to be new, complete with plastic coverings, but two and a half months later,...
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City gets dubious honor for 2nd year in a row

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Don't expect the tourist board to brag about it, but Chicago has been named the most popular city in America—for bedbugs. Pest control company Orkin has awarded the city the distinction for the second year in a row, despite the city council's efforts to boost detection and...
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Space heater + hair dryer + heat gun = not a good idea

(Newser) -
Bedbugs are creepy and gross, but it may not be such a great idea to try and kill them using a space heater, a hair dryer, and a heat gun. That's a lesson one New Jersey homeowner learned the hard way—after his methods caused a house fire, reports...
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Bean leaves make effective traps, researchers find

(Newser) -
Scientists looking for new ways to combat bedbug infestations have found that Eastern European housewives hit on a pretty good strategy centuries ago. Researchers found that leaving kidney bean leaves near beds and burning them the next day, as was long done in Bulgaria and Serbia, is remarkably effective because...
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Chicago, Detroit, and LA top Orkin's list

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Bedbugs may not in the news as much these days—except when they turn up in weird places such as old library books —but that doesn't mean they're getting wiped out. In fact, pest-control company Orkin says its bedbug business is up 33% over 2011, reports ABC...
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They apparently like the spines of hardcover books

(Newser) -
Just when you thought you were safe from bedbugs as long as you never stay in a hotel, go shopping for clothes or to the movies , or, you know, work in an office ... now it turns out you also must refrain from borrowing books. Yes, library books are the latest...
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